Agriculture safety and health education: Practices, attitudes, and needs of Iowa agricultural educators

This study sought to identify Iowa agricultural educators’ practices, attitudes, and needs regarding agricultural safety and health (ASH). Nearly 85% of high school agricultural educators reported teaching ASH in some capacity. The most commonly taught topics included animal safety, welding safety and power tool safety. Iowa agricultural educators rated, using a Likert scale, the importance of topic within ASH education. All topics presented were believed to be important, with machinery safety, tractors safety, and ATV safety rated the most important. Personal health topics including hearing protection and thermal protection were perceived as less important. Most educators believe the ASH materials available to them were quality and age appropriate. When presented with the statement, “I believe there is adequate training and professional development for teachers on ASH,” nearly 70% of educators disagreed. Lack of time was cited by nearly 75% of teacher as a major limitation to teaching ASH education in their classrooms. These finding have implications for professional development